Chasing West Michigan: Here are the Tornado Stats.

[mikegeukes]

Chasing West Michigan (Southwest Lower Michigan) here are the
tornado stats for 23 counties in the NWS Grand Rapids County
Warning Area. Click the link below for the Tornado Stats.
http://westmichigantornadoes.blogspot.com/

Chasing Michigan is challenging, the Upper Peninsula
and Northern Michigan is not recommended. Southern
Michigan, there are some areas that are not bad, but
many trees, some hills, traffic, poor visibility and cities
are the major downfalls. Lots of roads are tree-lined.

Mike:
http://geukesweather.blogspot.com
http://westmichigantornadoes.blogspot.com
http://westmichiganweather.blogspot.com

 

[Bob Hartig]

Excellent job, Mike! Thanks for sharing it.

Much of the south central part of the lower peninsula isn't terribly bad for chasing. Get out into open farm country and there are views to be had. Trees are always a concern--they just come with Michigan, that's all. But there are definitely worse places to chase. At least we have a dependable N-S, E-W grid, with driveable roads like clockwork pretty much every mile.

 

[Mike Kovalchick]

Ditto, Mike. Nice! I lived in Michigan for 15 years and have yet to see a highly visible tornado here although I have seen several rain wrapped ones. There is always next year!

Ingham/Eaton counties have been the hot spots recently for activity including a deadly tornado that smashed through my township a couple of years ago. (A young couple was killed when their home was knocked over and flipped into a pond.) It passed just South of me in the dark...I only knowing of it's passing via a small intense couplet on radar, a specutacular lightning display and sudden loss of power at my house.

I wouldn't write off Northern Michigan for chasing..in particular NE Lower.
That area which is removed from the modifying influences of Lake Michigan which so often supresses convection on the West side of the State often gets a nice SE wind component due to a sea breeze boundary from Lake Huron(..creating brief low-topped tornadic supercells. The trick is to be near an inland lake so you can see it...as the dense forests make vantages points few and far between. This seems to happen every year including this last one. I have watched the show on the radar quite a number of times but have been too slow to take advantage of the possibilities.

Who could forget this gem?

http://icons-pe.wunderground.com/data/wximagenew/j/JeffMasters/57.jpg

 

[Jeremy Lemanski]

one of the best spots to chase is from just east of bay city/saginaw into northern tuscola county and western huron county. Miles of farm fields\, very few large areas of trees, and a good road network. SE huron county and along central tuscola you get state game areas and tons of trees. Sanilac isn't bad in spots, and then as you head south towards the metro detroit area hills become more problems as do trees and cities.